Compounds which are effective for suppressing the production of glucose in the human body may additionally be beneficial to those suffering from diabetes and conditions which are precursors to diabetes. Diabetes mellitus (diabetes) is broadly defined as a group of metabolic diseases caused by defects in insulin secretion and/or insulin action resulting in hyperglycemia. Diabetes has been identified as the fifth leading cause of disease death in the United States. Of particular concern are the increasing rates of previously rare type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents.
People with diabetes have a higher morbidity rate than the general population, as well as higher risks for heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, extremity amputation, and other chronic conditions. The causes of diabetes are associated with several pathogenic processes including autoimmune destruction of cells in the pancreas, resulting in insulin deficiency, metabolic abnormalities that result in resistance to insulin action, or both. Diabetes is generally divided into two categories. Type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune defect resulting in an absolute deficiency of insulin secretion. A resistance to insulin action combined with an inadequate compensatory insulin secretion response causes type 2 diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetes include polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, polyphagia, blurred vision, hypertension, abnormalities of lipoprotein metabolism, and periodontal disease. Diabetes can lead to impaired growth and susceptibility to certain types of infections. Over the long-term, diabetes can also lead to: reinopathy with blurred vision; nephropathy resulting in renal failure; peripheral neuropathy resulting in foot ulcers, amputation, and Charcot joints; and autonomic neuropathy causing gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and cardiovascular symptoms and secual dysfunction.
Moreover, there are a number of precursors to diabetes which also can be debilitating. Pre-diabetes, for example, is a condition wherein blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Pre-diabetes may result in long term damage to the body, especially to the heart and circulatory system. Research has demonstrated that action taken to control blood glucose levels for one having pre-diabetes can prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Likewise, Syndrome X (also referred to as Metabolic Syndrome), a possible precursor to diabetes, may result in an increased risk of coronary artery disease. Syndrome X comprises three or more of the conditions of glucose intolerance, high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides, low levels of HDL, and abdominal obesity. Reducing the body's production of glucose may reverse the likelihood that Syndrome X would develop into type 2 diabetes.
It would be desirable to develop an herbal formulation which may be effective in suppressing the production of glucose in the human body, and could also benefit those suffering from diabetes and precursor conditions.